Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, an access point that facilitates receiving from a system a modulated signal in a first spectral segment, wherein the system is configured to receive a plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves via a transmission medium and extract the modulated signal in the first spectral segment from a plurality of modulated signals conveyed by the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves, and wherein the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves operates in a second spectral segment that differs from the first spectral segment, and transmitting the modulated signal in the first spectral segment to a communication device. Other embodiments are disclosed.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method, comprising: wirelessly receiving, by an access point, a first communication signal from a first waveguide system, the first waveguide system receiving a first plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves that propagates along a surface of a transmission medium without requiring an electrical return path, the first waveguide system obtaining the first communication signal from the first plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves, the surface being located on a first span of the transmission medium, the first span being supported by a first electrical insulator of a first supporting device and a second electrical insulator of a second supporting device, the first waveguide system being coupled to the first span, and the first plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves propagating along the first span without traversing the first electrical insulator of the first supporting device or the second electrical insulator of the second supporting device; transmitting, by the access point, a first wireless signal to a communication device, the first wireless signal conveying the first communication signal received from the first waveguide system; and providing, by the access point, a second communication signal to a second waveguide system coupled to a second span of the transmission medium, the second communication signal being based at least in part upon the first communication signal that is wirelessly received by the access point, the first waveguide system and the second waveguide system being non-integral waveguide systems, the second span being supported by the second electrical insulator of the second supporting device and a third electrical insulator of a third supporting device, the second waveguide system generating a second plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves that convey the second communication signal, the second plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves propagating along the second span of the transmission medium without traversing the second electrical insulator of the second supporting device, and the access point being in operative communication with the first waveguide system and the second waveguide system, wherein the first communication signal operates in a first spectral segment, and wherein the first plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves operates in a second spectral segment that differs from the first spectral segment, wherein the first communication signal conforms to a signaling protocol, and wherein the first plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves conveys the first communication signal without modifying the signaling protocol, wherein the first communication signal comprises a first modulated signal, and wherein the first plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves further conveys the first modulated signal in the second spectral segment that differs from the first spectral segment, wherein the first waveguide system facilitates extraction of the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment from the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves by: obtaining a reference signal from the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves; mitigating phase distortion in the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves according to the reference signal to generate an updated plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves; and extracting the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment from the updated plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves, and wherein the mitigating the phase distortion in the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves is further according to synchronization information decoded from the reference signal.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment is located in a first frequency channel of a plurality of frequency channels.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising frequency-shifting, by the access point, the first communication signal in the first frequency channel to a second frequency channel of the plurality of frequency channels to generate an updated first communication signal.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising providing, by the access point, the updated first communication signal as the second communication signal to the second waveguide system to facilitate transmission of the second plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves along the second span of the transmission medium.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, by the access point, a second wireless signal from the communication device, wherein the second wireless signal conveys a third communication signal; and transmitting, by the access point, the third communication signal to the first waveguide system for transmitting a third plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves that conveys the third communication signal, wherein the third plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves propagates along the surface of the transmission medium.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the third communication signal conveys a second modulated signal in a third spectral segment generated by the communication device.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first waveguide system is configured to use time division multiplexing to prevent signal interference between the first plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves and the third plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first waveguide system receives the first plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves via a coupler of the first waveguide system.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting the first wireless signal comprises transmitting the first wireless signal without demodulating the first communication signal.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the access point comprises at least one processor.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises obtaining, by the access point, energy from the transmission medium or another transmission medium to power the access point.
12. An access point, comprising: a processing system including a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising: wirelessly receiving from a first system a modulated signal in a first spectral segment, the first system being configured to receive a plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves via a surface of a transmission medium and extract the modulated signal in the first spectral segment from the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves, the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves conveying the modulated signal without modifying a signaling protocol of the modulated signal, the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves operating in a second spectral segment that differs from the first spectral segment, the surface being located on a first span of the transmission medium, the first span being supported by a first electrical insulator of a first supporting device and a second electrical insulator of a second supporting device, the first system being coupled to the first span, and the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves propagating along the first span without traversing the first electrical insulator of the first supporting device or the second electrical insulator of the second supporting device; transmitting, in the first spectral segment, the modulated signal to a communication device; and providing a communication signal to a second system coupled to a second span of the transmission medium, the communication signal being based at least in part upon the modulated signal in the first spectral segment that is wirelessly received by the access point, the first system and the second system being non-integral systems, the second span being supported by the second electrical insulator of the second supporting device and a third electrical insulator of a third supporting device, the second system generating a second plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves that convey the communication signal, the second plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves propagating along the second span of the transmission medium without traversing the second electrical insulator of the second supporting device, and the access point being in operative communication with the first system and the second system, wherein the first system facilitates extraction of the modulated signal in the first spectral segment from the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves by: obtaining a reference signal from the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves; mitigating phase distortion in the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves according to the reference signal to generate an updated plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves; and extracting the modulated signal in the first spectral segment from the updated plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves; and wherein the mitigating the phase distortion in the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves is further according to synchronization information decoded from the reference signal.
13. The access point of claim 12 , wherein: the modulated signal in the first spectral segment is located in a first frequency channel of a plurality of frequency channels; and wherein the operations further comprise: frequency-shifting the modulated signal in the first frequency channel to a second frequency channel of the plurality of frequency channels to generate an updated modulated signal.
14. The access point of claim 13 , further comprising providing the updated modulated signal as the communication signal to the second system to facilitate transmission of the second plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves along the second span of the transmission medium.
15. The access point of claim 12 , wherein the reference signal comprises a preamble of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves included in the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves, and wherein the preamble of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves enables the first system to obtain the synchronization signal therefrom.
16. The access point of claim 12 , wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting a wireless signal that conveys the modulated signal in the first spectral segment.
17. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising: wirelessly receiving by an access point, from a first system, a modulated signal in a first spectral segment, the first system being configured to receive a plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves via a surface of a transmission medium and extract the modulated signal in the first spectral segment from a plurality of modulated signals conveyed by the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves, the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves operating in a second spectral segment that differs from the first spectral segment, the surface being located on a first span of the transmission medium, the first span being supported by a first electrical insulator of a first supporting device and a second electrical insulator of a second supporting device, the first system being coupled to the first span, and the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves propagating along the first span without traversing the first electrical insulator of the first supporting device or the second electrical insulator of the second supporting device; transmitting by the access point, in the first spectral segment, the modulated signal to a communication device; and providing by the access point a communication signal to a second system coupled to a second span of the transmission medium, the communication signal being based at least in part upon the modulated signal in the first spectral segment that is wirelessly received by the access point, the first system and the second system being non-integral systems, the second span being supported by the second electrical insulator of the second supporting device and a third electrical insulator of a third supporting device, the second system generating a second plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves that convey the communication signal, the second plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves propagating along the second span of the transmission medium without traversing the second electrical insulator of the second supporting device, and the access point being in operative communication with the first system and the second system, wherein the first system facilitates extraction of the modulated signal in the first spectral segment from the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves by: obtaining a reference signal from the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves; mitigating phase distortion in the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves according to the reference signal to generate an updated plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves; and extracting the modulated signal in the first spectral segment from the updated plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves; and wherein the mitigating the phase distortion in the plurality of ultra-wideband electromagnetic waves is further according to synchronization information decoded from the reference signal.
18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting a wireless signal that conveys the modulated signal in the first spectral segment.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
October 4, 2017
September 1, 2020
Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.